Dog in a Tartan Skirt (Redux)

44 Replies

 

 

Dog in a Tartan Skirt 

There’s a dog wearing a tartan skirt
outside the window of Starbuck’s;
a tartan skirt, a belt, and a knitted white sweater.
Its little dog legs are moving frantically
on the wet pavement,
while across the slick road
and the sodden green park
the ocean sits
like a slab of lead
having clearly decided
to take some time off,
no crashing on the shore today.
South of the border
America blunders around
trying to remember
where it parked
that big ass car
that everyone admired
and envied.
The people look to God
but God, once again,
is moving in mysterious ways
and I, for one, wish He would knock it off,
could He not for once in His eternal life,
clarify something?
I mean, for fuck sake,
there’s a dog wearing a tartan skirt
outside the window of Starbuck’s.

 

Taking part in Open Link Night over at dverse.

Also taking part on Open Link Weekend over at Earthweal.

 

44 thoughts on “Dog in a Tartan Skirt (Redux)”

  1. Victoria Stuart

    This is hilarious. I love the ocean sitting like a slab of lead, and the narrator’s comment that God once again is moving in mysterious ways and I wish he would knock it off.

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  2. rothpoetry

    Your dog in the tartan skirt just sets the image for the craziness we see going on around us!
    I loved these lines…
    The people look to God
    but God, once again,
    is moving in mysterious ways
    and I, for one, wish He would knock it off,

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Lucy

    I found myself enjoying these lines the most:

    “I mean, for fuck sake,
    there’s a dog wearing a tartan skirt
    outside the window of Starbuck’s.”

    The absurdity of the world, the absurdity in faith (a dog in a tartan skirt? Oh lord, someone have faith for us all), and the mysterious essence of God. What is NOT to like in this poem? It is humorous and absolutely raw in each line. I loved this whole piece. I think you can tell I enjoyed it very much! Great work here.

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  5. Ron.

    Oh, He’s playing with us, fer sure. Probably just to remind us about just which choices we’d better get around to making –and soon– or, um… I don’t wanna think about it.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. lillian

    I LOVE everything about this!!!
    “the ocean sits
    like a slab of lead
    having clearly decided
    to take some time off,
    no crashing on the shore today.”
    These words are so descriptive to me…..we go every year for two weeks in September to stay in Provincetown, Cape Cod…..the unit we rent is right on the ocean. I love its energy and love its calmness – and its roar when it storms. But here, in your write, there’s the juxtapositioning of a dog in a plaid skirt with its legs moving as fast as they can, the ocean lying like a slab of lead, God seemingly no where to be found…..and ending up back at Starbucks with that crazy little dog. Yep —- somehow the juxtapositioning of these images are allegorical? mimic? reflect? the craziness of the world we are living in today. Well done.

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  16. Truedessa

    The image of the dog seems to fit in to the absurdity of today. The ocean taking the day off, I guess, it’s better than battering the shore with high winds and rain. You have captured the bizarre of our new reality.

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  18. earthweal

    Great positioning of the moment, overdressed dog dancing across from a leaden sea. And yes, America is drunk again on that Holy Spirit, can’t find its car keys much less the friggen car.

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  19. hedgewitch

    I couldn’t agree with the sentiments here more–the tongue in cheek voice just adds to the impact of the dystopian absurdity and the frustrations of logic we are dealing with. Lots of great images and lines, too, the ocean a bored and exhausted slab of disconnected water, the outmoded and abandoned big ass car, and of course, the dog and his reverse God. Neither seem to be right, and that gives the poem a great deal of heft under the light tone. Excellent writing, and man, can I relate.

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  21. Tranature - quiet moments in nature

    I’m really curious why the dog was wearing a kilt, I’ve never seen this in Scotland! The Universe can have a wonderful sense of humour 😉

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. Steve Simpson

    A sweet sequence of ideas with a great rhythm, Jim, from the everyday oddity to the sublime. It resonates with me. Here in NSW, we’ve had the burning, and the plague, and now the flaming floods, while the plague horseman is still doing the rodeo. I don’t understand, but I’d like a time-out.

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